Here’s an easy glaze for anything you want to add some sweetness too.  You can easily adapt it to work with the flavors in your baked goods.

Yield: 1 cup (serving size is 1 tablespoon)
Calories: 30 (0% of calories from fat)  ♥  Fat: 0 g  ♥   Weight Watchers: 0 pts

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup skim milk (fat-free)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or rum extract

PREPARATION

1. In a small bowl, stir confectioners’ sugar and extract into the milk until mixture is thick enough to spread.

VARIATIONS

• Lemon or orange confectioners glaze: Use lemon or orange juice in place of milk.
• Chocolate confectioners glaze: Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa to the sugar and follow directions for confectioners glaze.

CONFECTIONERS GLAZE is a post from: A Healthy Kitchen
Healthy Weight Loss | Low Fat Recipes

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A Canyon Ranch Spa Guest Favorite!

Have you ever dreamt of spending a week at Canyon Ranch Spa?  I know I have — ever since I saw Oprah do a show from there.

Oh yeah, baby!  This girl has a recurring dream — pampering — eating healthy gourmet food — swimming in beautiful pools — taking phenomenal hikes — you get the idea!  Did I mention massages?  Canyon Ranch Spa sings to my soul!

Well, I can’t offer you all that, but I can offer you this phenomenal fat-free salad dressing that has been a guest favorite at Canyon Ranch for ov3er 25 years.

It was first published in a book called  Jet Fuel, The New Food Strategy for the High Performance Person, published in 1984.  I L-O-V-E this salad dressing and I’ve discovered that the flavor is better if the combination is made the day before you plan to use it, allowing the flavors to marry.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground
• black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup water

PREPARATION

1. Combine salt and vinegar and stir until salt is dissolved.  Add all other ingredients except the water and mix until well combined.
2. Add water, shake well. Refrigerate in tightly covered container.

OTHER FLAVOR OPTIONS

Italian Salad Dressing

Add 1 tablespoon each of fresh oregano, basil, and tarragon, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon of each of the same herbs, dried, crushing them first in a mortar and pestle.

Asian Salad Dressing

Add 1 teaspoon curry powder and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger.

Mexican Salad Dressing

Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.

Tarragon Salad Dressing

Add 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried, crushed before using in a mortar and pestle.

YIELD:   Makes 2 cups

SERVING SIZE:  2 Tablespoons

CALORIES 5 / FAT 0 grams / CHOLESTEROL 0 grams / SODIUM 93 mg / CARBS 2 g

FAT FREE CANYON RANCH JET FUEL SALAD DRESSING is a post from: A Healthy Kitchen
Healthy Weight Loss | Low Fat Recipes

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Low calorie, zero fat and deliciously healthy — spaghetti squash is on my perfect vegetable list! If you’ve never had spaghetti squash, you’re missing out on a real treat! It’s a yummo squash that acts like spaghetti (you know, the pasta kind), but it’s super good for you and very low calorie — only about 42 calories per cooked cup!  Yowza — that’s squash-tastic!

Spaghetti squash is available year round, but it’s finest hours are fall through winter.  As I write this in the middle of September, I’m already beginning to think about what I’ll be serving for Thanksgiving — I’m not too obsessed with food — am I — LOL!

This Spaghetti Squash casserole makes a great side dish to a festive holiday meal, but I also enjoy eating it as a meal unto itself. I often cook mine in single serving individual casserole dishes and serve with a hearty homemade french bread (or store bought, if you prefer), and a salad.  A great vegetarian meal with all the comfort of a casserole.

This doesn’t freeze well, but it never lasts that long at my house anyway.  I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think of it.

Ingredients

• 1 (3 1/2 pound) spaghetti squash
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup nonfat sour cream alternative
• 3 tablespoons nonfat mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup finely crushed unsalted whole-grain melba toasts (about 10)
• 1 teaspoon grated Romano cheese
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Preparation

Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place squash cut sides up in a microwave dish with 1/4 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap and cook on high for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender.  Add more cooking time if necessary. Let stand covered, for 5 minutes. With fork “comb” out the strands to yield 5 cups; set aside.

Lightly coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot. Add onion; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Combine squash, onion, and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well.

Spoon into a 10x6x2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; set aside.

Combine melba toast crumbs and next 3 ingredients, and stir well.  Sprinkle over squash mixture. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yields 6 Servings | 1 cup each

CALORIES: 117 (18% from fat) / PROTEIN 5.6 g / FAT 2.3 g / CARB 18.3 g

This is just delicious!

What’s your favorite way to serve spaghetti squash?

LOW FAT SPAGHETTI SQUASH CASSEROLE is a post from: A Healthy Kitchen
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If you watch Oprah (and who doesn’t), then I know you’re familiar with Dr. Mehmet Oz and his famous “green drink”. Dr. Oz says he drinks it just about every morning and if you look at Oprahs weekly meal plan, you’ll see that she too is drinking it every morning.  Me too — Me too!!  Yummo!

Dr. Mehmet Oz’s Green Drink Recipe

• 2 apples (cored, but leave the skin on them)
• 2 BIG handfuls of spinach
• 1 medium cucumber
• 3 ribs/sticks of chopped celery (if you’re using Vita-mix, you only need to cut the celery rubs into thirds)
• 1/2 inch or teaspoon ginger root, peeled
• 1 bunch parsley
• Juice of 1 lime
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

After everything is combined in a blender (I highly recommend Vita-mix), this recipe makes 28 to 30 ounces — about three to four servings. After Oprah tried this on the show, she was pleasantly surprised and exclaimed “It’s a glass of fresh!”

If you’re not used to green drinks, you may find them a bit “earthy” in the beginning.  An easy solution is to increase the fruit content until you get used to the earthy taste.  I betcha one day you’ll be craving green drinks just like Dr. Oz’s recipe (I do).  But in the beginning (and for as long as you want), feel free to increase the apple, or add a banana, or add in my favorite … fresh mango or cooked sweet potato!

This isn’t a race, it’s a lifestyle.

Here’s why I recommend Vita-Mix …

Vita-Mix & Phytonutrients

If you know me at all, you know there is one kitchen appliance I am passionate about — my Vita-mix blender!  Yes, it’s at the top of my “Couldn’t Live Without” list — and yes, you’re going to see a plug for it on every smoothie recipe I write because using a Vita-mix blender gives your smoothies much more nutritional value than any ordinary blender possibly can!  And because I care about YOUR health!

Here’s the “skinny” — Vita-Mix processing breaks open the cell walls to release maximum nutrition from whole foods, more than you can get any other way.

Vita-mix gives you everything you’d want from a blender and more!  No question about it — the Vita-Mix blender is superior to anything else on the market and well worth the investment!

To learn more about Vita-Mix — or to get your coupon code for FREE SHIPPING — please visit my Vita-Mix page.

DR. OZ’s GREEN DRINK is a post from: A Healthy Kitchen
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